The Man of Steel in the Golden Age

Superman’s origin is perhaps one of the best-known stories in comic-book history. Indeed, in All Star Superman no. 1 (2005), writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely expertly cover the salient points with just four panels and eight words. On the doomed planet Krypton, scientists Jor-El and Lara place their infant son Kal-El into a rocket bound for Earth. He is found by Martha and Jonathan Kent, a kindly couple from the mid-American town of Smallville. They name the boy Clark and raise him as their own. As a child, Clark exhibits a collection of superhuman powers—invulnerability, incredible strength, the ability to leap incredible distances, and super speed—that would later become the hallmarks of his alter ego, Superman, the “Man of Steel.”

Cover of Action Comics no. 1 (June 1938), which introduced Superman.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

That dual identity would provide an ongoing sense of tension for the saga. Upon reaching adulthood, the mild-mannered Clark Kent moves from Smallville to urban Metropolis, where he works as a reporter for the Daily Planet. There he develops a romantic interest in fellow reporter Lois Lane (a character modeled in part on Siegel’s future wife, Joanne). She, however, dazzled by the courageous crime-fighting exploits of Superman and unaware of his dual identity, continually rejects Kent’s overtures. The audience, privy to the secret that continually eluded Lois, identified with Clark as a downtrodden “everyman,” while Superman served as a beacon of hope during the depths of the Great Depression.

The success of Action Comics no. 1 spurred the creation of a new superhero industry, with a host of comic-book publishers sprouting virtually overnight. For their part, Siegel and Shuster received $130 from DC Comics for the exclusive rights to Superman. The pair (and later their estates) would spend years in court trying to recoup some share of the royalties for their blockbuster creation. DC publisher Jack Liebowitz wasted no time in exploiting the character, and in January 1939 Siegel and Shuster were enlisted to produce a Superman newspaper strip. Distributed by the McClure Syndicate, the feature ran successfully through the 1940s. The Man of Steel was awarded his own comic title with Superman no. 1 (summer 1939) and began appearing in World’s Best Comics (later World’s Finest Comics). DC introduced a Supermen of America fan club and licensed the character’s likeness to manufacturers of toys, puzzles, novels, colouring books, and bubble gum. Superman debuted on radio in 1940, in the long-running The Adventures of Superman program, with actor Bud Collyer giving voice to the hero. Superman made his silver-screen debut in 1941, in a celebrated series of 17 animated shorts from Fleischer Studios.

Superman’s powers grew in response to his caped competition, primarily Fawcett Comics’s Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel could fly, and his popularity soon rivaled that of Superman. It was not long before the Man of Steel was soaring through the skies, and DC filed suit against Fawcett for infringing on its copyright of Superman. Although DC was ultimately successful in its claim, Fawcett’s whimsical Captain Marvel stories—most of them written by comics legend Otto Binder—would outsell Superman titles throughout the 1940s. Of course, not every threat to the Man of Steel would come from a competing publisher. Kryptonite, a radioactive substance from Superman’s home world, made its debut on the Superman radio show and soon entered the pop-culture lexicon as a synonym for Achilles’ heel. Superman also developed a rogues’ gallery that included villains such as Lex Luthor, the Ultra-Humanite, and the Prankster. Upon the advent of World War II, Superman was anointed as DC’s standard-bearer of patriotism, and on several occasions he was depicted taking on Axis forces.

During that period Superman’s allies primarily consisted of his coworkers at the Daily Planet. Lois Lane was joined by crusty managing editor Perry White, a cigar-chomping old-school newshound who would often respond to the antics of his staff with the exclamation “Great Caesar’s ghost!” Jimmy Olsen, a copy boy (and later cub reporter) whose enthusiasm frequently got him into trouble, became famous as Superman’s pal.

Sales of superhero titles withered in the post-World War II years as readers flocked to horror, true crime, and romance comics. The Man of Steel was not exempt from that trend, but he continued to experience success in other media. Actor Kirk Alyn brought Superman to life in a pair of live-action movie serials, Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950); the latter adapted archnemesis Lex Luthor to the big screen. George Reeves, who portrayed Superman in the live-action theatrical release Superman and the Mole Men (1951), starred in the movie’s syndicated television spin-off Adventures of Superman (1952–58).

Superman and …

Lippert Pictures/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

With the publication of psychiatrist Frederic Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent (1954), a since-discredited broadside against the comic industry that accused it of corrupting a generation of young readers, the so-called “Golden Age” of comics came to a close. The industry adopted the Comics Code, a self-censorship pledge that ensured that only the tamest of stories would be published. No longer the menace to criminals that is depicted on the cover of Action Comics no. 1, Superman became a helpful scoutmaster, instilling virtues into the childish Lane and Olsen and, by extension, the readers.

Noel Neill and George Reeves in Adventures of Superman.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Superman in the Silver Age

The shift to a more family-friendly tone played to the strengths of writer Otto Binder, who had moved from Fawcett to DC in 1948. Just as he had developed a robust and entertaining supporting cast for Captain Marvel, Binder fleshed out Superman’s “family” and roster of villains in such a way that it could be argued that only Siegel himself wielded a greater influence on the growth of the Superman mythos. Binder cocreated, with artist Al Plastino, Superman’s cousin, Supergirl; the intergalactic villain Brainiac; Kandor, a miniature Kryptonian city preserved in a bottle; and the Legion of Super-Heroes, a teenage super team from the 30th century. With artist Curt Swan, Binder cocreated Krypto the Superdog and Comet the Superhorse as well as Lois Lane’s sister Lucy, who would serve as a recurring romantic foil for Jimmy Olsen. Binder also offered the definitive takes on Bizarro, Superman’s imperfect duplicate, and the Phantom Zone, a Kryptonian prison whose inmates would plague Superman time and again. Perhaps Binder’s most-enduring contribution to the superhero genre as a whole, however, would be the “imaginary story,” a noncanonical interlude that depicted, for example, a world in which Lex Luthor had killed Superman. With his work on Action Comics, Superman, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (debuted 1954), and Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane (debuted 1958), Binder left an indelible mark on the Silver Age Superman.

Though civil unrest and opposition to the Vietnam War defined much of the 1960s in the United States, Superman largely turned a blind eye to the social scene. Traces of the real world occasionally crept into his comics—the assassination of U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy, for example, was too big for Superman editor Mort Weisinger to ignore—but Superman titles generally offered an escape from, not an exploration of, political issues of the day. Few readers seemed to mind, as Superman’s fame reached global status, and translations of his comic books spread worldwide.

By the mid-1960s Superman’s drawing power as DC’s marquee character had begun to fade. The success of the live-action Batman television series in 1966 had shifted attention to DC’s other flagship character. Superman’s adventures became increasingly outrageous, and his superpowers intensified to a ridiculous level, perhaps best exemplified by his use of superventriloquism. As Superman’s faculties increased, his enemies simply could not pose a credible threat, and his stories lost dramatic intensity. By the end of the decade, Superman’s adventures had grown stale, and his readership had dwindled. The Superman newspaper strip was canceled in 1967.

Artist Carmine Infantino, who had helped define the Silver Age aesthetic at DC with his work on The Flash and Batman, was appointed DC’s art director in 1967 and publisher in 1971. He was tasked with revitalizing the company’s line, and that meant overhauling the Man of Steel. Editor Julius Schwartz, who had successfully resuscitated the Batman titles from near cancellation in 1964, was assigned to lead the revisions. Beginning with Superman no. 233 (January 1971), Clark Kent was a television news reporter, kryptonite was eliminated, and Superman’s powers were weakened. Pioneering young writers such as Denny O’Neil, Elliot S. Maggin, and Cary Bates invigorated the tales with realism and new villains, while artists such as Neal Adams and Curt Swan and inker Murphy Anderson left an indelible mark on Superman’s look.

Halfway through the 1970s, two major events occurred: DC joined forces with competitor Marvel Comics to copublish the best-selling crossover Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, and Alexander and llya Salkind signed a deal to produce a live-action Superman film. The potential windfall promised by the forthcoming film inspired Adams, a strong advocate for creators’ rights, to lobby DC to provide financial restitution to Siegel and Shuster, both of whom were teetering on the brink of destitution at the time. DC and parent company Warner Brothers bowed to public pressure, establishing pensions for both and inserting their names into all Superman comics as the creators of the character. In 1977, as part of a promotional campaign for the upcoming motion picture, the Superman newspaper strip was revived.

Christopher Reeve in Superman (1978).

Panavision/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The Salkinds’ Superman was a blockbuster, earning more than $300 million worldwide. Director Richard Donner, who had previously experienced success with The Omen (1976), helmed the picture, and Christopher Reeve’s star-turning role as the Man of Steel made the actor a household name. Margot Kidder (as Lois Lane), Gene Hackman (as Lex Luthor), and Marlon Brando (as Jor-El) rounded out the cast, and the film’s rousing score earned composer John Williams an Academy Award nomination. A string of sequels followed, with most of the principal cast members reprising their roles. Superman II (1980) was a commercial hit, but Donner was replaced by Richard Lester after filming had begun, and the result was a story that shifted abruptly between dramatic and slapstick elements. Superman III (1983), also directed by Lester, was largely a comedic vehicle for Richard Pryor, and by the release of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), the franchise was a spent force. In spite of dwindling box-office performance, Reeve’s portrayal of the hero as a “big blue Boy Scout” would define the Man of Steel in the pop-culture consciousness for a generation.

As DC Comics reinvented itself in the mid-1980s with its universe-altering Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, writer Alan Moore closed the door on decades of continuity with the two-part epic “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” in Superman no. 423 and Action Comics no. 583 (both September 1986). Writer and artist John Byrne was tasked with reinventing the Superman mythos in The Man of Steel (1986), a six-issue biweekly miniseries that virtually cleaned the slate for the character, preserving only select aspects from previous incarnations. Luthor remained an evil genius, but Byrne made him less a superscientist and more a ruthless businessman. Superman’s personal life also underwent changes—Jonathan and Martha Kent were now still alive, lending compassionate support to their adult superson.

The comics industry experienced explosive growth in the early 1990s as speculators purchased multiple copies of issues that they believed would become valuable collectibles. The apotheosis of that trend came with the publication of Superman no. 75 (January 1993), which depicted the death of Superman at the hands of the villain Doomsday. Over four million copies of Superman no. 75 were printed, and the sheer abundance of the comic virtually guaranteed that it would not appreciate significantly in value. When the industry collapsed in the mid-1990s, publishing events such as the death of Superman were seen by many as a contributing cause. Ironically, the best Superman story of the decade appeared in a title that ruthlessly skewered superhero conventions and many of the publishing trends of the 1990s. In the Eisner Award-winning Hitman no. 34 (February 1999), writer Garth Ennis and artist John McCrea offered a reverent take on the Man of Steel that proposed that it was Superman’s values—and not his godlike powers—that were the true essence of the character. Much lighter fare was provided by the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–97). The romantic action-comedy featured Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain in the title roles, and Lois and Clark’s on-screen wedding was reflected in the comics with Superman: The Wedding Album no. 1 (December 1996). The creative team behind the groundbreaking Batman: The Animated Series (1992–95) broadened DC’s animated universe with the critically accalaimed Superman: The Animated Series (1996–2000).

Since 2000 DC has repeatedly revisited, retold, and offered alternative versions of Superman’s origin and early career. The standout story of that period was writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman (2005–08), an award-winning 12-issue series that took place within the context of Superman’s last adventure. In September 2011 DC rebooted its entire line of comics as the “New 52,” with both Action Comics and Superman resetting to issue no. 1. Morrison was tapped to relaunch Action Comics, and his 18-issue run (2011–13) set the stage for a new generation of tales.

The 21st century also saw a dramatic increase in the presence of Superman in other media. The live-action young adult drama Smallville (2001–11) traced the life of Clark Kent (Tom Welling) during his formative years in Smallville, Kansas. The animated Superman figured prominently in Cartoon Network’s Justice League (2001–04) and Justice League Unlimited (2004–06) as well as in numerous direct-to-video features. In 2006 Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men movies, helmed Superman Returns, starring newcomer Brandon Routh as Superman, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. The film was a box-office disappointment, and Warner Brothers canceled its plans for a sequel. The studio turned to director Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer, the creative minds behind the highly successful relaunch of the Batman film franchise, to reconceive and reboot the Superman saga in film. The result was Man of Steel (2013), directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill as Superman. Although the film was a critical disappointment, it grossed over $600 million worldwide. The sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), earned more than $800 million globally, but the film’s grim depiction of two of pop culture’s most recognizable heroes drew ire from critics and comic fans alike.

The Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, Lex Luthor, Martian Manhunter, and the Green Lantern, in the …